


The Glass Coffin

by ICanSeeClearlyNow



Series: Fairy Tale retellings [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: A little bit of violence, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fairy Tale Curses, Fairy Tale Logic, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fairy Tale Style, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Magic, Panic Attacks, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, VictUuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 12:29:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13007799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ICanSeeClearlyNow/pseuds/ICanSeeClearlyNow
Summary: When Yuuri decided to seek his fortune and his soulmate he never realised that he would find both in the enchanted forest that had defeated so many other travellers."At one end of the hall was a glass case in the shape of a coffin and when he walked towards it he could see that inside was the most beautiful man he had ever seen.  His silver hair lay over his chest down to his waist, his face was restful with silver eyelashes and a sharp well defined jaw.  As Yuuri walked slowly forwards his soul mark began to itch violently and burn, he paused, looking at the mark and then reached out to touch the glass."





	The Glass Coffin

Once upon a time there was a young man, he was of medium height, with messy black hair and deep brown eyes. He was 23 years old, and his name was Yuuri.  He lived on the edge of an enchanted forest with his parents and sister in the Inn they ran together. He was a good and kind young man with a loving family. His only problems were his high levels of anxiety and his soul mark. The beautiful design of blue roses on Yuuri’s wrist haunted him with its promise of happiness and love. Almost everyone was born with a soul mark, an intricate design imprinted onto your wrist, it would feel like it was burning and become irritated in the presence of your soul mate. Yuuri’s parents described how, when they finally touched, the sparks had literally flown between them and they knew they were meant for each other. Yuuri often looked at the design on his wrist and wondered how he was ever to meet his soul mate if he was too anxious to go and find them. After all, the chances of them coming to the Inn were remote. He became determined to rule over his anxiety and to this end he resolved to go and explore the forest that lay on their doorstep. Eventually he gathered every scrap of courage and determination he had, bid goodbye to his family and set off into the enchanted forest.

The forest was renowned far and wide, and many people coming to seek their fortunes amongst the dark mass of trees stayed in the pretty little white painted inn with the cherry trees, which stood beside the road running past the forest. The Innkeeper, Katsuki Toshiya, would ask the explorers to write to him at the end of their adventures to let him know what had happened. Almost every letter he received had a common theme. The explorers would find that due to the lack of a road and no clearly marked path, they become confused in their direction and exited the forest from a different place. Sometimes the travellers found that the number of days they experienced in the forest did not relate to the number of days that had passed on the outside or that they were much further away than they could ever have walked. Those that did not reply were never heard from again. Thus the forest’s reputation grew and so did Yuuri’s curiosity.

Yuuri’s mother cried and his father gave him good advice on foraging for food. His sister Mari warned him not to hunt, another thing the surviving travellers had in common, that none of them were hunters. Yuuri hugged them all hard, and picking up his bag, nerves twanging all the while, left his home.

It did not take long for Yuuri to become lost. He had been wandering for several days, trying to go in the same direction, but the canopy was dense and it was impossible to tell where the sun was located or to see the stars at night. It was perpetual twilight under the trees. The supplies he had brought with him were running low at this point and tomorrow he would have to start foraging seriously for food. His water supply was also running out, but he had come across no streams. The only way he could see out of the situation was to climb a tree and attempt to see some sort of landmark.  He had spent the last few nights in trees, very afraid and scared of any wild beasts that might be lurking in the forest, after all, no one knew why or how the hunters had disappeared. He climbed to the top of a tall tree, but it was too dark to see far, he would have to try again tomorrow. The wind started to pick up speed and Yuuri climbed back down to the first few branches, he tied himself to the tree, as he had done for the last few nights, and attempted to get to sleep.

After several hours the wind was a howling gale and the rain was painfully strong. Yuuri gave up on sleep; he rubbed his eyes in his exhaustion and tried to wipe the water off his glasses. At first he assumed that the light in the distance he could see through the trees was a trick of his tiredness, but it was shining steadily despite the rain. He worried that the person behind the light may not be friendly, but in his extremity he had to try, so he climbed down the tree and made his way to a small clearing where a light was shining through the small window of a little hut. By this point he could barely stand, his exhaustion, the fear, and the cold were combining to create a bad anxiety attack. He gathered the last shreds of his courage together and knocked on the door of the house. Gradually he slid down until he huddled at the edge of the door, overwhelmed by his emotions.

The door eventually opened and a hunched over old man looked out, his hair was grey and his face wrinkled, but his piercing eyes were the greenest green that Yuuri had ever seen.

“Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in this forest?” The old man spat out, looking down with contempt at Yuuri his doorstep.  Yuuri looked up and stood shakily, supporting himself on the side of the house.

“M … My name is Yuuri, sir. I am exploring the forest to try to become braver, but I became lost and the storm has made me desperate. Please, if I could only sleep on the floor of your hut for tonight. I can help you in any tasks you may have as payment.” Yuuri knew he sounded as desperate as he felt.

“Go away. I don’t help vagrants, go find somewhere else to stay.” The old man was about to close the door when Yuuri fell to his knees and begged piteously for shelter from the cold and windy night. When the old man looked down and saw Yuuri’s wrist and the soul mark on it, he let out a gasp and stepped back. Gruffly allowing the puzzled Yuuri inside, he gave him food saying, “you’ll leave in the morning. I need no help with any tasks.” And afterwards directed him to a very comfortable bed where Yuuri immediately fell into an exhausted but sound sleep, thinking that any questions he had could be answered in the morning.

Yuuri would have slept for longer, he was so tired and emotionally drained, but a tremendous noise came from outside the hut. Yuuri awoke with a gasp and at first hid under the covers of the bed not willing to deal with any new horrors the forest could throw at him. Eventually, however, curiosity got the better of him and he gathered the small amount of courage a good night’s sleep had given him and looked out of the door of the hut.

In the clearing before the hut a large stag was facing down a huge black bull. The bull was terrifying to behold, a steaming mass of muscle and rage with needle sharp pointed horns. The stag was graceful and powerful and had enormous antlers that branched like a thicket with ends as sharp as daggers. The two animals circled each other, the bull charged and the stag lightly skipped out of the way before swinging its head and impaling the bull on its antlers. The stag flung the bull with all its might into a nearby tree, and before the bull could stand the stag had charged and impaled the bull through and through.

Yuuri gasped at the conclusion of the battle and realised that he had, without thinking, stumbled outside of the hut and was standing in full view. The stag turned at Yuuri’s gasp and looked at him. Before Yuuri could react the stag was charging towards him. Paralysed with fear he could not move and closed his eyes. But instead of the stabbing pain he expected to feel, his clothes were pierced and he was tossed into the air only to come down on the back of the stag with all the air crushed out of him. The stag started to run further into the deep forest, and all Yuuri could do was to hang on as hard as possible.

Hours later they arrived at a small sheer rock face where the stag halted. Yuuri slid off its back into a heap on the ground, his arms and legs quite boneless. It took some time for him to recover because his anxiety had left him trembling and shaking after the shock of the morning’s events. The stag waited impatiently, occasionally stamping its feet and staring at Yuuri with green eyes that looked strangely familiar. When Yuuri finally looked up and got to his feet, the stag gently nudged him towards the rock face.

“I don’t understand, what do you need me to do?” The stag huffed and very gently used one of its dagger sharp antlers to lift up Yuuri’s marked arm and push it towards the rock face. Yuuri was still confused but pressed his hand against the stone. With a great groaning, an opening in the rock face crumbled into dust. The thick dust filled the air and Yuuri choked. He pulled his sleeve across his mouth and looked around for the stag. When the dust settled he saw the stag standing behind him blinking. Yuuri was very afraid and still shaking with the remnants of panic. So much had happened in the last day, that Yuuri barely knew how he was still coherent; he tried to scrape together the dregs of his courage. He had come so far; he knew he could not give up now. Impatient with waiting for so long, the stag huffed and pushed Yuuri forward with its nose. Yuuri staggered and turned, angry with the stag’s arrogance and bossy behaviour.

“Okay, Okay, I get it. You want me to go in.” The stag huffed yet again and pawed the ground with one enormous hoof. “It’s not that simple. I have anxiety and I’m barely functioning as it is. Let me recover or I won’t go in at all.” The stag blinked in surprise, but stepped away from Yuuri. Yuuri let out a sigh of relief, he had been half afraid that the stag would gore him in it’s frustration. He sank back down to his knees and breathed in heavily.

“I can do this. I can do this.” Yuuri repeated to himself aloud. "This is what I came here for. I can do this.” He could feel the panic gradually draining away, he was still shaky, but he pressed his lips together and was determined to carry on. He got to his feet, and looked back at the stag, “Okay, I can go now, I’m not sure whether to thank you or not, so I’ll just say goodbye.” The stag wasn’t interested and just snorted and nudged Yuuri again. Yuuri turned and faced the darkness, swallowing heavily. Giving up now would just mean failure, and he was not going to fail.  He brushed his hair back from his forehead with his hand and stepped into the cave.

The first few steps into the cave weren’t too bad; the light from the entrance still illuminated the passage. As he walked deeper the cave was lit with a glowing light, but Yuuri could not work out where it came from. He could see that the floor was made from a shiny material, which sparkled like there were stars within and as he stood on each slab, the edges lit up and a tone rang out. Then, at the end of the hall he saw a stone with its edges already etched in light. He gulped and stepped forward with determination. He wasn’t going to give up, failure was not an option, and anyway if he left the cave without doing whatever the stag wanted, it would probably kill him. As soon as both feet were on the stone, it began to descend, Yuuri kept his balance and blinked as the light grew in intensity, until Yuuri had to cover his eyes or be blinded. When the stone came to rest Yuuri blinked furiously and found himself in a brightly lit hall. Cracks in the ceiling let in the sunlight like windows, and birds that had found their way in were chirping quietly.

At one end of the hall was a glass case in the shape of a coffin and when he walked towards it he could see inside was the most beautiful man he had ever seen. His long silver hair lay over his chest down to his waist, his face was restful with silver eyelashes and a sharp well defined jaw. As Yuuri walked slowly forwards his soul mark began to itch violently and burn, he paused, looking at the mark and then reached out to touch the glass.

The person’s hands were lying by their side and Yuuri looked for a mark on his wrist. Quickly walking round to the other side of the coffin to look at his other arm Yuuri gasped.  The mark was the same, blue roses circling the wrist. If Yuuri’s soul mark was reacting in this way then the man must be alive. Frantically he searched for a way to open the coffin, finally finding the well-hidden clasps and lifting the lid.

Carefully laying the glass lid on the floor, Yuuri returned to gazing at the man laying on the stone slab. He reached out several times before drawing his hand back and looking again at their wrist where the mark that mirrored his own was drawn. Eventually, unable to resist the sensation in his wrist any longer he touched man's wrist. The burning sensation intensified and he tried to draw back his hand but green sparks were flying between the two marks, illuminating the air around them and Yuuri found that he could not move. The man’s eyes flew open and he drew in a gasp.  His eyes were as blue as a clear sky and Yuuri felt himself drawn insistently forward. Being cautious by nature helped Yuuri brace himself with his free hand and he was able to stop himself from leaning in to kiss the gorgeous stranger. Blue eyes transfixed Yuuri in place as the man propped themselves up on an elbow, his silver hair falling around their shoulders.

“You broke the curse.” His voice was deep and smooth with a lovely foreign lilt. He lifted their joined hands and contemplated the sparks flowing over the surface of both, then he smiled. Yuuri had never seen a heart-shaped smile before and he knew he could never forget it, it was mesmerising. He gripped their hand and the sparks intensified, running down their arms and onto their bodies. Commanded by an instinct he pulled and the person sat up.

“My name is Victor.”

“Mine is Yuuri.” Enthralled, they stared into each other’s eyes. Yuuri still had his free hand braced on the stone surface of the slab; it was the only thing stopping him from launching forward and embracing Victor.

“Yuuri,” Victor tilted their head to one side. “I think we need to get closer to stop the sparks.”

Yuuri swallowed. “I know, will you … can I hug you?” Victor laughed and nodded. Yuuri pulled them into a tight hug and the sparks ran over their bodies and merged until they both glowed green. Yuuri did not want to acknowledge the tension that ran between them at that point and stepped back reluctantly, dropping Victor’s hand.

“Who are you?” Yuuri asked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I … I mean apart from being Victor of course.” Victor laughed again, but quickly sobered. He face fell and he raised a hand to rub at his forehead.

~

“Forgive me, it is still so fresh in my head. My father was the Duke of all these lands, but our family had suffered a lot of misfortune. When my little brother was four years old he was cursed. He would turn into an animal during the day and his soul mark was taken, and so he was kept in a suite of rooms far away from the rest of the house during the day and he could only come out and join us after sundown. The magician wouldn’t say how the curse could be broken, so my father killed him.” Victor sighed, “that proved to be a rather large mistake.”

“Despite our discreet enquiries, we never found a way to break Yuri’s curse, he grew up into a rather bitter and angry young boy as to be expected having to live in those conditions.

Many years later a traveller came to our mansion. He said that he had been travelling a long way on a mission to our royal court and as a messenger requested a night’s stay. He was a pleasant seeming and personable man so my father agreed. We did not realise that he was the younger brother of the magician who my father had killed and had been drawn to the manor because of the aura of his brother’s magic.”

“Dinner was pleasant enough and I had enough social knowledge to entertain our guest with civil conversation even though as a family we tended to isolate ourselves because of Yuri. But, over the course of the meal he started subtly probing for information. He queried the fact that he had not seen us at court for many years, and wondered why that was; we had, of course, got used to deflecting probing questions from people concerning our reclusive lifestyle over the years. He would not be put off though and finally requested, or rather demanded, that I accompany him to the court to be presented to the king as a younger son of a duke should be.”

“My suspicions had been aroused by this point, it was pretty obvious that the messenger had not arrived at our manor by chance, but I could not discern any other objective than to force our presence at court. I exchanged looks with my father who was also puzzled by the man’s behaviour. But, we continued to the drawing room for drinks after the dinner, and that was where Yuri joined us. It was summer and dusk was late in the evening, because of his curse he could not join us for the meal. I saw the magician stiffen as Yuri entered the room and immediately made an excuse to take Yuri back out again.” Victor sighed, “Yuri, of course, didn’t understand and made a fuss, he rarely met new people and was curious as all teenagers are. In the middle of our argument, we did not notice the magician standing. He bound everyone in the room with magic, telling us of his connection with the magician my father had killed. As his punishment he would take me instead, a life for a life and that is the last thing I remember.”

Victor looked at the floor. “I do not even know how long it has been or even if my family still live or my dog.” Yuuri noticed tears falling onto Victor’s legs and stretched out his hand to brush Victor’s hair aside.

“Something led me here. Somehow I was able to penetrate the forest when many other people had failed. I was able to gain access to this cavern by the soul mark on my wrist. Perhaps that is the key?” Yuuri blushed shyly and reached out taking Victor’s hand, “We are soul mates, but that doesn’t have to mean anything beyond helping you break this curse.”

Yuuri gently pulled Victor off the stone plinth and realised that Victor was a few inches taller. “You are beautiful.” He breathed and then immediately clapped his hand over his mouth. Victor grinned back at Yuuri.

“You’re not so bad looking yourself.” Victor lifted Yuuri’s hand away from his mouth and leaned forward so that their foreheads were touching and stared into Yuuri’s startled eyes. He ran his thumb over Yuuri’s bottom lip, “I want to kiss you.” Yuuri gaped at Victor, completely unable to think or react. “But we’ve only known each other for 10 minutes, I think that I had better leave it a bit longer.” Yuuri swallowed, firmly repressing the urge to press forward and complete their connection, and moving away instead.

“We should find out how to get out of here.” Yuuri looked around the hall in more detail than when he first entered, having been enticed towards the coffin and the person inside too much to notice much else. He found the edges full of small statues and on looking closer; one of them was a dog. Yuuri carefully picked it up and brought it over to Victor.

“Here, is this a statue of your dog?” Victor looked up and reached out for the statue. As soon as Victor’s hand touched the statue it dissolved and expanded into a full sized adorable brown poodle. “Oh!” Victor let out a gasp and hugged the dog to himself, and the dog in return tried to cover Victor in kisses, letting out little whimpers and barks of excitement and wriggling furiously. Yuuri laughed to see such antics and both the man and the dog stopped and looked at him with almost identical expressions. He laughed again.

“I wonder if your magic touch will work on all of these statues?” Yuuri swept his arm around at the statues lining the walls.

It took a while and required both of them to touch the statues, but eventually all the people and animals of the household were restored. Victor’s mother and father were confused over what had happened, and enraged when they found out what their hospitality had cost them. They thanked Yuuri profusely for his help, greeted Victor with tears and lamented the loss of their youngest son Yuri who did not appear to be among the statues. The people soon fell to wondering where they were, but Yuuri noticed that behind the plinth where the coffin had once stood was a large pair of double doors. He walked towards them and tried to push them, but they wouldn’t move. He thought for a moment and then called to Victor.

“Victor! Will you come and put your hands on this door as well? We have to try to get out.”

Victor walked over and placed his hands on either side of the crack in the door together with Yuuri, at his touch the doors swung wide and before them stood a beautiful manor house that gleamed in the sunlight. The people behind them gasped and then shouted with glee as they saw their home restored and they ran towards the sunlit mansion.

Yuuri thought back to himself about the stag he had travelled on to get here, and the old man who had helped him, and wondered. He pulled Victor back and told him about the old man who gave him shelter and the stag he had seen battling the bull, and the green eyes of both. He told Victor how the stag had tossed him onto its back and brought him to the entrance above.

“Yuuri! We must find the stag! My brother had the greenest, piercing eyes and the curse turned him into a deer. This must be him.” Yuuri looked back at the steep cliff that prevented them from going back to the forest.

“How will we get back up into the forest to find him Victor?” Yuuri asked.

“Don’t worry, my family know all the tricks of this landscape. We just need a horse and we can go.”

“But Victor,” Yuuri pointed to the formal suit that Victor was wearing. “You’re hardly dressed for a long ride!”

“Do you think I care? I must rescue my brother!” Victor ran to a horse and leapt onto its back without a saddle. “Come on Yuuri!” He held out his hand for Yuuri to grab and pulled Yuuri onto the horse behind him. The horse took off at a gallop, Victor’s long hair streaming in the wind and Yuuri holding tight behind, he had never ridden bareback before. The horse plunged towards the cliff but just as Yuuri was sure they were about to run straight into the cliff face, they passed into an almost invisible cleft where a stream had worn a trail that wound back and forth up inside the cliff right to the top.

They searched high and low for the stag into the evening continuing their search in the light of the moon; until they came across the same hut that Yuuri had stayed in for the previous night. The old man was sitting outside on a stool with his chin resting on his hands, which were crossed over the top of a walking stick. Yuuri and Victor slid off the horse and approached the old man. His eyes were still as green as Yuuri remembered, but the man did not take his eyes off Victor.

“Yuri?” Victor said cautiously. “My brother Yuri?”

“Well hello princess. Finally come back to gloat have you?”

“What? Has it really been that long? Yuri, I was asleep for all that time. I didn’t have a choice.” Victor looked at his brother and Yuuri could see that his face was sad. “How long has it been Yuri?”

“It’s been 60 years Victor, you bastard.”

“I’m so sorry!  I’m back now, please.” Victor walked forward, gathered the old man into a hug and kissed him on the forehead. As soon as they touched Yuuri could see the old man beginning to change.  His hair became a bright blond and the wrinkles on his hands that were around Victor disappeared. When Victor stepped back Yuuri gasped. Instead of the old man, stood a young man with blond hair, but the same green eyes as before. The young man stood and looked at his hands and touched his hair as if he couldn’t believe it.

“I killed him you know. The magician. He sensed when Yuuri entered the forest and broke through the confusion spell that was keeping everyone away. Luckily it must have taken him a few days to get here and that was enough time for Yuuri to find me. He changed into a bull to scare Yuuri away or kill him, but this time I killed him.”

“And you brought me to the door, where I could save Victor. How did you know what to do?” Yuuri asked.

“The reason I and my family don’t like magic Yuuri is that many years ago, a curse was placed on me. It backfired spectacularly though when the magician cast his spell to seal us away. Instead of being sealed away with my brother and family I was cast outside the immediate range of the magician’s spell into the forest. I don’t know why, but maybe the original curse was more powerful.  I still became the stag during the day which is what enabled me to kill the magician, leading finally to the breaking of the curse.” Yuri laughed a bitter laugh. “I never thought I’d be grateful for that curse. He used to turn up every few years, making sure to come in the dark and torment me with the fact that Victor would never find his soulmate, but this time he had no choice if he wanted to stop us breaking the curse.”

Yuuri stepped forward and bowed to both of the brothers. “I am very glad that I was able to help you …” Victor interrupted him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Will you come back with us, Yuuri? Please,” Victor was standing in front of him as Yuuri raised his head back up; as he did Victor placed a hand under his chin and gently lifted Yuuri until he was standing straight again. Yuuri blushed, but couldn’t take his eyes away from Victor’s.  They were so intense and blue. Victor stepped forward and narrowing his eyes, he slid his hand to the back of Yuuri’s neck, and a shiver ran down Yuuri’s spine. “We need to thank you properly Yuuri and my family and all the servants will want a party to celebrate. Come back with us?” Yuuri found himself nodding his head in agreement.

“There is nowhere else I’d rather be, I left my home to prove myself and I have succeeded more than I could ever wish for. I would ask no more than to be forever at your side.” Behind Victor, his brother Yuri was making gagging noises. Yuuri couldn’t help smiling, maybe that was a little over the top.

“But, you’re adorable!” Victor exclaimed. “May I kiss you?” Yuuri’s mouth went dry and he nodded his agreement. As Victor moved closer Yuuri tilted his head and leaned forward. The moment their lips touched Yuuri felt electricity running through his body, he sighed into the kiss and as he opened his mouth, Victor deepened it, their bodies pressed against each other and their arms circled around, holding each other close.

The sounds of frantic coughing and throat clearing gradually penetrated the daze they were in and they reluctantly pulled apart.

“At bloody last!” Yuri stomped up to them. “All very romantic and all that, but can we go now? Have you finished molesting each other? I haven’t had a decent bath in 60 years.”

Yuuri and Victor grinned at each other and turned to Yuri. “Well, shall we get back?” Victor smiled a wonderful heart shaped smile.

The party was a great success, the wine cellar was emptied, those who could hunt had been sent out to fetch enough food and the kitchen staff were thrilled to find that no dust had gathered in the years they had been imprisoned.  Yuuri got very drunk and ended up pole dancing with Victor’s valet Chris. Victor’s parents approved of their relationship and a date was set for 4 months time when they would be married.

Unfortunately Yuri’s curse was not broken, so at night he roamed the lands around the mansion, making sure that his family were safe, and that my dears is a story for another day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. If you're interested here's a link to the [wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Glass_Coffin) for the original fairy tale, as you can see, it's rather sparse on both detail and logic. I just couldn't sit on this any longer hoping for it to be perfect. If you've got any (nice) ideas on how to improve this then I'd be very grateful.
> 
> Do not expect rational magic or decision making from evil magicians ;)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it and if you did please leave a kudos and I love to receive comments, or come and talk to me on my tumblr [@narcissuspseudonarcissus](https://narcissuspseudonarcissus.tumblr.com)


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